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How do I change my search engine and home page to google?

  • 4 replies
  • 13 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

Shawn_Dailey
Shawn_Dailey
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Hello the search engine drop down arrow has no search engines attached to it so i can't pick a default engine from there and when i go to "Manage Search Engines" the restore default button if shaded and inaccessible. Google also isn't an option when you click "Get more search engines" either, But i can manage to add some websites like You Tube to the search engine list. I also cant search anything on the Firefox homepage bar because there is no search engine connected to it. I can switch the homepage by going to options and typing in Google, but then the Firefox logo goes away and its still no in sync to the search engine bar. I have no recollection of how it disappeared, but Ive been using Firefox for a few years now on various computers and never had an issue I could fix. I'm hoping i don't have to uninstall Firefox and reinstall it because ill have to open internet explore which still gives me Toshiba adds and surveys from my previous computer and has a "22find search engine"... what ever that is?... and I slow internet (130Kbs PEAK!) at the moment so its just all going to be a hassle. 

                                                                                                                             SOS... Shawn
Hello the search engine drop down arrow has no search engines attached to it so i can't pick a default engine from there and when i go to "Manage Search Engines" the restore default button if shaded and inaccessible. Google also isn't an option when you click "Get more search engines" either, But i can manage to add some websites like You Tube to the search engine list. I also cant search anything on the Firefox homepage bar because there is no search engine connected to it. I can switch the homepage by going to options and typing in Google, but then the Firefox logo goes away and its still no in sync to the search engine bar. I have no recollection of how it disappeared, but Ive been using Firefox for a few years now on various computers and never had an issue I could fix. I'm hoping i don't have to uninstall Firefox and reinstall it because ill have to open internet explore which still gives me Toshiba adds and surveys from my previous computer and has a "22find search engine"... what ever that is?... and I slow internet (130Kbs PEAK!) at the moment so its just all going to be a hassle. SOS... Shawn

All Replies (4)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser\searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder.

If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.

You can delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.

Firefox will rebuild the search.json file from the default search engines in the "browser\searchplugins" folder in the Firefox program folder and the searchplugins folder in the Firefox profile folder.

Shawn_Dailey
Shawn_Dailey Question owner
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Thanks for your help; I tried looking at the XML files after putting it in safe mode and switching to default in appearance and it said Google was my default even though it wasn't. So I'm just going to have to uninstall it :l Its weird because my computer has no viruses and it has an Intel i7 4770 with 3.4 GHz turbo so it never has an issues with games or websites, But thanks anyway.

user633449
user633449
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Try Resetting Firefox before uninstalling Firefox. Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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So, all the xml files are still there in the browser\searchplugins folder?

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

You can check for problems with preferences.

Delete a possible user.js file and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename (or delete) the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in the current Firefox release.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)